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Thursday, June 19, 2014

Blogger friends, how I have missed you! Life has been so crazy busy lately, running my kids to the moon and back, that I haven't written a post in almost two months. I've also barely had time to read any of your blog posts either. OK, let's just say it out loud, I've been a terrible blogger friend! I hope that we can reconnect again and what better week to do it than the one designated to celebrate our precious pollinators!

Like many wildlife gardeners, I started the journey by gardening for butterflies. Creating a butterfly garden is an easy way to support these beautiful creatures whose existence is being threatened by habitat loss, pesticides and diseases.

We have all read about the tragic decline of the monarch butterflies and honeybees but I am also concerned about many of the butterflies we typically see in spring, summer and fall in our garden. Despite the fact that we have all the components to attract native butterflies (a vast array of host plants, nectar sources, as well as puddling, perching, and basking spots) they are especially sparse this year. I have seen a few fluttering around the garden but haven't seen any butterfly caterpillars. Not a one! Is the population so thin that they aren't finding mates? Our abnormally cold winter and late spring surely had some impact on the populations and I've been waiting patiently but I'm getting concerned. Where are all the butterflies?

My plants are lonely! We have passion vine growing all over the garden, up trellises, hedges and on the ground, just waiting for some gulf or variegated fritilary butterflies to lay their eggs.

taken last summer, gulf fritilary on passionvine

The bronze fennel and parsley have bolted and the golden alexander is blooming happily because they haven't been eaten to the ground by black swallowtail caterpillars. This photo was taken in April last year when we had 22 caterpillars on one fennel plant and I had to rush out and buy more because I was afraid they would run out of food.

What does this mean? Well, the reduction in butterfly numbers and species is a good indication that
there is loss in plant communities. It is particularly evident with species, such as the monarch, that are dependent on one species of plant. Here we've been adding more and more milkweed to our garden every year. (we are up to 5 varieties) but haven't had a monarch butterfly visit our garden since fall of 2012 and haven't had any monarch caterpillars since fall of 2011. We're not much of a monarch way station, are we!

Because of their relationship with plants, butterflies are extremely important in
reflecting loss of habitat. Its true that our blooming plants are on a delayed schedule because of the weather and it goes to reason that the pollinators are on the same delayed schedule, but many plants are blooming in our garden now with very few visitors to pollinate them.

Unfortunately, there is more and more evidence that the populations of many pollinator species are in decline. As home gardeners, Mr. Southern Meadows and I have transitioned from our days of butterfly gardening to gardening for all pollinators...moths, bees, beetles, birds, and even flies. We've worked hard to create a pollinator friendly garden on our 5 acres to help preserve native pollinator populations. In doing so we have attracted many fascinating pollinators to our garden that really makes our garden come alive. Watching a healthy ecosystem function from our back deck is incredibly rewarding!

long horned beetle on daisy

Pollinators not only help put food on our table...every third bite of food we eat comes from a plant that depends on insects to pollinate it...but they also are essential in natural plant communities because they create food for other wildlife.

Without pollinators there wouldn't be any berries or seeds for the birds and other mammals to eat.

Pollinators are themselves food for spiders, birds and many mammals.

The pollinators world has been substantially altered by urbanization and agriculture. Often home gardens and the marginal habitats along roadsides are the only places pollinators can forage for food and nest. I believe that we can coexist with the pollinators by restoring habitat for them. Managing roadside plantings with native wildflowers with overlapping bloom times and host plants (milkweed for example), especially along migration routes, would greatly benefit pollinator populations.

Education along with implementing pollinator friendly practices in our municipalities, neighborhoods, parks and forests as well as businesses is an important step. I believe as home gardeners we CAN make a difference too. If you haven't done so already, you can begin by creating your own pollinator friendly habitat in your garden. Click here for more information on how to build a pollinator friendly habitat as well as pollinator friendly gardening practices.

And you can thank a pollinator every time you eat a meal. Without them we would have very little color on our plates!

Welcome to Southern Meadows

At Southern Meadows we garden for wildlife. Located in northeast Georgia in eco-region 231 (Southeasst Mixed Forest Province) / zone 8a on 10 acres of meadow and forest habitat. I’m Karin, gardener, photographer and writer. I hope you enjoy a little taste of Georgia and will come back and visit often. xo!

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NABA Butterfly Count

The NABA Memorial Day Count (in the United States) will be held May 27-29, 2017. All you need to do is to observe butterflies at one or more of your favorite butterflying localities (such as your own backyard) this coming Memorial Day weekend and note what butterflies you’ve seen. There are no requirements regarding how much time or area you cover. Then go to the NABA web site, www.naba.org, and from there to the Recent Sightings (sightings.naba.org) web page and enter your report, filling in the location, date, and butterflies seen.